How do you prevent rust?

I'm not sure if this is the place but I've got to ask. I've spent my whole life in California and Texas and I'm blown away by the formation of rust on my family truckster in less than a year in Ohio! I'll be driving my 72 up here later this month and I've got to admit, I'm a little concerned. Is there some kind of rust preventative I can use when I wash the car? What do you northern states folks do?

Doug Magoffin

 

The best way to protect it is not to drive in the winter. The road salt is what really gets ya. Since you are driving it up there, I would wash it right before you put it into storage. Make sure you wash all over, especially under the car, wheel wells ect. Good luck.

 

That's about it!

If, for some reason, you must drive it in the winter, I would give the entire undercarriage a POR-15 treatment. Probably only take you a week to apply all that properly. Or just leave it parked until April 1.

-Bob C.

 

Just do not drive it in winter for any reason. Wait for a good rain storm after the last salt application in spring before bringing it out. If you wash it before putting away just make sure it is bone dry as water will collect and cause rust if you do not. A leaf blower works good as it simulates driving into the wind.

 

Like the others said, salt is the #1 enemy. Don't ever let your car see salt. You can't just wash salt off, it migrates into any unpainted steel and requires electrolosis (sp?) to remove it. I can't speak for Ohio, but here in Michigan I've always put my car away by the 3rd week in October, and it doesn't come out again until the 3rd week of April -- and then only after we've had a couple major rainstorms to clean the roads.

Moisture is the other essential ingredient for rust. Classic cars must be parked in an enclosed garage, one that's sealed reasonable well so dew never forms inside. My daily drivers are parked outside year-round (so the classic can rest inside), and it's amazing how fast they rust. Between rain and dew, it's not uncommon for them to get wet almost every day some months.

 

Thanks guys, I'm sensing a theme...keep it garaged! My wife and I love the cooler weather up here in Ohio, but it is a shame I can't drive the vert on those nice days. Same with boating...we were good year round in Texas. Oh well, I guess it gives me time to work on all the areas that need attention! Thanks again.

 

I just bought a car recently, so on the drive home i got quite a bit of salt underneath and in the wheel wells. Water will neutralize the salt, but not always take it off. For the outside body of the car i just had to scrub a lil extra with the sponge, and for the underneath i used a pressure washer. Just use plenty of water on the under carriage. I then put it up on stands to let it ventilate, and when i was happy with the salt removal, i sprayed some rust proof oil on the undercarriage, before tucking it into my garage. (you dont need to do the oil, just give it plenty of water, and let it dry before rolling it into storage. If for some reason the car wont be goin into storage, there are some tricks to protect your car that way also, but not as effective obviously.

 

Salt is very bad, and you can't always avoid it. There are some things you can do to reduce the risk of rust. Make sure your weather stripping is in good shape to keep water out. Remove any dead leaves or gunk form the cavity behind the wheel in the front fender. Remove anything from the trunk drops and make sure the drains are not clogged. Do the same with the bottom of the doors. Water will always find a way into your car, often by condensation. I saw a 17 gallon gas tank fill with water in 2 months, just through condensation. The trick is to make sure the water can get out, and does not find a nice pile of leaves or sand to soak into.

I had a friend with a nice original Riviera that was garaged and well kept. One summer the bottom of the passenger side fender crumbled with rust. Just behind it was a mouse nest that absorbed water and kept the area wet. We don't know when the nest was built, but that one spot was the only rust on the car.

John.

 

Some blame me but I don't have any reason as to why... Just because I drive this.....








I wouldn't believe everything you are told.... :laugh: :laugh:

 

YES, BUT - putting your car in a garage is better than being outside, but moisture is doing it's dirty work unless you take the right precautions.

1. Be sure that the floor is sealed with paint, or there is a plastic sheet on it.

2. Avoid tempreture extremes to minimize condensation.

3. Use dessicant packs in the trunk, interior, under the hood.

These steps will insure a rust free car. A car bag is also a great way to keep the moisture from the car.

 

What do we do? We cry and whine a lot because we know our cars will rust and there will be many days during a year that we can't drive them because of bad weather.

Wash it & keep it away from the salt!

 

If you're like me, really anal, then you get the car upon jacks and go to the underside with a toothbrush. It's a once a month activity for me. .....but then again, I'm anal. haha. :TU:

 

I was going to start a new thread about this very topic, but this is perfect.

My '67 Special is beyond help when it comes to rust, but I am the original owner of my newest car, a 2004 Nissan 350Z, and I thought this would be a perfect place to pick the brains of those who are more experienced than me about preserving vehicles over time. Are the steps I should take to prevent rust in a modern car any different than those described above? I want this Z to be my own version of a lot of the old Datsuns out there.

I have only driven the car once or twice a week in the winter. Yes, salt was on the roads, and I would always find myself going through the unfortunate pool of melted snow (mixed with salt, of course). Anyway, this winter I have decided I will be putting her up for the first time.

I have a garage where I keep the vehicle. It is not climate controlled, and I know it has moisture because it leaks through the wall and over the floor when it rains hard

I have been using Boeshield T9 aersol to touch up any bare metal I exposed from bottoming out (it's low, and my driveway is horrible). I touch up chips too. I bought some of that rock guard stuff to try to fully cover the inner fender wells. The factory rock guard coating doesn't cover the whole inner fender. I swear they want these cars to rust over time to force us to buy new ones. Is it even worth continuing the rock guard over the areas the factory guard left out??

I've researched the heck out of this. It seems like there are things you can do such as undercoatings, but I spoke to a couple body shops and they said that it's just best to keep up with touch ups on exposed metal that shouldn't be, before rust starts. Also, they said these coatings can trap moisture. This is eating me up a lot. I work very hard on my vehicles to make them last, and I feel like I can lose the battle within 1 year in New England.

Thanks for any information.

 

Boeshield is good stuff.

I would find a different storage situation if the garage leaks as you describe.
Moisture = bad. I've seen cars sit for years in leaky garages up here, and the moisture rich environment just kills them.

Mark

 

Thanks Mark. I doubted Boeshield because it's not "thick" when you spray it. I guess that waxy texture it gets after it dries is the waterproof protection the company speaks of. I trust it for now.

I am planning to use http://www.3mestore.com/60440096497.html?WT.mc_id=3MAAD for covering the rest of the metal areas in the wheel wells not covered with OEM "rock guard" / rust prevention. Is this a bad idea?

Also, I was thinking today (almost all day) about other vulnerable rust places. What most concerns me are the outer fender lip, and the inside of this lip, pictured here on this BMW:

Outer (under):



Inner (both the inner edge, and actually "inside" the fender lip):



The area inside front fender wells not covered with factory rock-guard, nor plastic shrouds, and this same general area in the rear near the strut mount are where I originally planned to spray with the 3M:

Front

Rear (this shot is off of a BMW, which has the sprayed rock guard all the way up to the edges of the shock mount - I don't remember the Z having this complete coverage):



Would it be worth it to disassemble the suspension to get complete coverage of the spray around the mounts? I'd rather not have to do that, but in the name of preservation...






I just know how paint chips expose bare metal and that causes rust, blah blah. Despite "clean" roads in the warmer months, there is still the potential for rocks to kick up and ding the paint. Should I not both spraying the areas shown with the red arrows above and just take a look every now and then for chips and then use the touch up paint? Please let me know! I know you all have more experience with this subject!

 

bump

 

67Special (I don't see your name posted),

Do you plan on driving this during winter months? That would be different than if you were just trying to preserve it from April thru October for instance. I came to grips some time ago that a car I need to drive year-round will end up dying from rust, and will eventually have to be replaced. The time commitment to try and "save" it is just too great, for me anyway. My Roadmaster wagon rusted through in the spare tire well this past winter. Since I plan to make this thing go 200K miles, (163K now) I will patch that and move on. I worked to keep the outside clean as I can.

A couple of observations:
A good friend of mine is working on a body-off restoration of a 63 Impala. California car, no rust at all to speak of. During disassembly, and needed replacement of a quarter panel that had been hit in the past, rust was found in places you would never expect or see. Not bad rust, or structural, but the hidden areas is where rust grows worst.

I have a brother with a 3 series BMW. It was kept out of salt until about two years ago. I was looking at it last week when he stopped at my house. That thing is rusting like crazy around the windshield moulding.

Mark

 

here is another consideration when u garage your car for the winter. install a ceiling fan in your garage and run it 24x7 at the low speed throughout the cold/winter season. this circulates the air about the car and may assist in preventing that cold moist winter air from settling in/on the vehicle.
also, i just purchased a new 2008 saturn Xr, 3dr, 5 spd, black. before fall, i am going to have it "krown" oiled. my 99 saturn sl waill also be done. i have used ziebart in the past.

 

in all my years being a mechanic, i cant tell you how many batteries ive replaced. a lot of these batteries will start seeping battery acid as soon as they are installed in a car. they can really rust out a fender or core support. if i know my car will sit longer than 2 weeks i always remove the battery.